Al-A'raf · Ayah 192

وَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ لَهُمْ نَصْرًا وَلَآ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَنصُرُونَ 192

Translations

And they [i.e., the false deities] are unable to [give] them help, nor can they help themselves.

Transliteration

Wa lā yastṭāʿūna lahum naṣran wa lā anfusahum yanṣurūn

Tafsir (Explanation)

This ayah emphasizes the complete helplessness of idols, stating that they cannot provide assistance to their worshippers, nor can they even help themselves. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari interpret this as a decisive refutation of idol worship, highlighting the logical absurdity of seeking aid from entities that are themselves powerless and incapable of self-preservation, thereby reinforcing monotheism (tawhīd) as the only rational path.

Revelation Context

This ayah appears within a broader Meccan passage (7:191-198) that systematically dismantles the practice of idol worship through rational argumentation. The context addresses the polytheists who attributed partners to Allah by crafting idols from wood and stone, and this specific verse concludes the logical chain demonstrating that such idols deserve neither worship nor reliance.

Related Hadiths

While no hadith directly quotes this verse, Sahih Bukhari (3.34.305) contains hadith material related to the futility of worshipping besides Allah. The theme resonates with various hadiths on tawhīd, such as those in Sunan Ibn Mājah regarding the severity of shirk (associating partners with Allah).

Themes

Futility of idolatryDivine oneness (Tawhīd)Rational critique of polytheismAllah's exclusive right to aid and protectionPowerlessness of created beings

Key Lesson

This ayah teaches believers to place their complete trust solely in Allah, as all other entities—whether idols, wealth, or human intermediaries—are inherently powerless. For modern readers, it serves as a reminder to evaluate what or whom we rely upon in life and to redirect all hopes and petitions exclusively to the One True God.

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Related Ayahs

7:112Al-A'raf

يَأْتُوكَ بِكُلِّ سَـٰحِرٍ عَلِيمٍ

Who will bring you every learned magician."

7:38Al-A'raf

قَالَ ٱدْخُلُوا۟ فِىٓ أُمَمٍ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِكُم مِّنَ ٱلْجِنِّ وَٱلْإِنسِ فِى ٱلنَّارِ ۖ كُلَّمَا دَخَلَتْ أُمَّةٌ لَّعَنَتْ أُخْتَهَا ۖ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا ٱدَّارَكُوا۟ فِيهَا جَمِيعًا قَالَتْ أُخْرَىٰهُمْ لِأُولَىٰهُمْ رَبَّنَا هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ أَضَلُّونَا فَـَٔاتِهِمْ عَذَابًا ضِعْفًا مِّنَ ٱلنَّارِ ۖ قَالَ لِكُلٍّ ضِعْفٌ وَلَـٰكِن لَّا تَعْلَمُونَ

[Allāh] will say, "Enter among nations which had passed on before you of jinn and mankind into the Fire." Every time a nation enters, it will curse its sister until, when they have all overtaken one another therein, the last of them will say about the first of them, "Our Lord, these had misled us, so give them a double punishment of the Fire." He will say, "For each is double, but you do not know."

7:33Al-A'raf

قُلْ إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ رَبِّىَ ٱلْفَوَٰحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ وَٱلْإِثْمَ وَٱلْبَغْىَ بِغَيْرِ ٱلْحَقِّ وَأَن تُشْرِكُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ مَا لَمْ يُنَزِّلْ بِهِۦ سُلْطَـٰنًا وَأَن تَقُولُوا۟ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ

Say, "My Lord has only forbidden immoralities - what is apparent of them and what is concealed - and sin, and oppression without right, and that you associate with Allāh that for which He has not sent down authority, and that you say about Allāh that which you do not know."

7:131Al-A'raf

فَإِذَا جَآءَتْهُمُ ٱلْحَسَنَةُ قَالُوا۟ لَنَا هَـٰذِهِۦ ۖ وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَطَّيَّرُوا۟ بِمُوسَىٰ وَمَن مَّعَهُۥٓ ۗ أَلَآ إِنَّمَا طَـٰٓئِرُهُمْ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

But when good [i.e., provision] came to them, they said, "This is ours [by right]." And if a bad [condition] struck them, they saw an evil omen in Moses and those with him. Unquestionably, their fortune is with Allāh, but most of them do not know.